Please do grab your Bibles and turn back to Mark chapter 15.
!
Would you help us to receive your word and faith?
Help us to know the Lord Jesus better, not just to know him, but would we love him?
Would we know what he has done for us?
And we pray this in his name. Amen.
This is a courtroom drama.
We are in a courtroom drama tonight.
So did you see all the characters that we read about earlier?
There is the accused, Jesus.
There's questioning, testimony, a cross-examination.
Pilate, the crowds, the cross.
That's the judge, the jury, the execution.
This is a legal trial.
This is a courtroom in front of us.
And that is precisely why the chief priests, did we see it in verse 1?
That's why the chief priests bind Jesus and take him here to Pilate, the judge.
Before, Jesus was taken in front of the Jewish courts, the Sanhedrin.
And he was in front of the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
And he was questioned to see if he was the Christ.
And he said he was, and they charged him with blasphemy.
But they couldn't really do anything about it.
But it wasn't a legal court.
They didn't have the authority to sentence him to death.
But they wanted to.
So they delivered him to Pilate.
Which is where we are tonight.
We're in a courtroom.
But actually, we need to see tonight that there are two courtrooms in this passage.
There are two trials going on here.
There are two judges in two courtrooms.
In this passage, there is the earthly courtroom.
But there's also the heavenly courtroom.
This earthly courtroom with Pilate and the priests and Jesus and the crowds.
All this is a reflection, a picture, an earthly version of the heavenly courtroom of God's justice.
So just like the events of Peter last week, Peter's denial, just like that was a red carpet moment,
showing us what's going to happen at the main event on the cross,
well, we're still on the red carpet.
And we see a courtroom.
And this earthly courtroom tells us what's going to happen on the cross.
This courtroom shows us what's going on in the heavenly courtroom as Jesus dies on the cross.
So have you ever wondered, when Jesus was crucified, what was going on in heaven at the crucifixion?
As God looked down on his son being slain, as the salvation of the world took place,
what was going on in heaven?
What was going on in the divine courtroom of God's justice as God looked down on the cross?
Well, as we look at this earthly courtroom, we can see what's going on in heaven.
As we look at this passage, we're actually peering into the legal courtroom of heaven.
And as we peer into it, we see something.
And this is the first thing to see.
We see that Jesus was an innocent sacrifice.
Jesus was an innocent sacrifice.
So if this is a courtroom, what is the charge?
What is Jesus being accused of?
Well, look at verse 2.
Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews?
Here's the accusation.
The chief priests, they've clearly set this charge up.
They've said to Pilate, take this man, he's claiming to be the king of the Jews.
And that would have been a dangerous claim at this point.
Any threat to Roman rule, like another king, that would have meant the death penalty.
So the Jews know what they're doing.
But Jesus never actually said that.
He said he's the Christ, which does then mean he's the king of the Jews.
But he never actually said the king of the Jews.
This is a setup.
And so how does Jesus respond?
Well, look at verse 2.
He answered, Pilate, you have said so.
Jesus doesn't deny it.
But he doesn't affirm it either.
He kind of just lets it happen.
This is kind of a yes but no answer.
It's a way of saying, yes, I am king of the Jews, but not in the way that you think.
I'm the king of the Jews in a way that you can't quite grasp.
And so the charge doesn't really stick.
And so in verse 3, the chief priest accused him of many things.
The accusations just keep flying at Jesus.
They're doing all that they can to condemn him.
You can imagine them saying, well, Jesus said this and he did this as well.
Pilate, just hear us.
Take your pick.
Just do something with this man.
But nothing is really sticking.
Pilate isn't convinced.
Look at verse 10.
He perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priest had delivered him up.
He knows something isn't adding up here.
So Pilate probes further.
He tries to expose the true Jesus in verse 4.
Have you no answer to make?
See how many charges they bring against you.
But Jesus made no further answer.
So that Pilate was amazed.
In the face of all these accusations,
Jesus is silent.
No answer.
But why?
All these accusations are untrue.
This is a setup.
This man is innocent.
Even Pilate knows he's innocent.
In verse 14, as the crowds condemned Jesus,
Pilate said to them,
why?
What evil has he done?
He's innocent.
So why is Jesus silent?
Why doesn't he speak up?
Well, Jesus is silent because he knows he must let these events unfold.
He needs to let this happen.
If he speaks, he can defend himself.
And he can stop this trial.
But he can't let this trial end.
He needs to let it happen.
Because if this trial ends, there's no cross.
And if there's no cross, there's no salvation.
Salvation hangs on this silence.
It's interesting.
We often mark history-changing events by important words, don't we?
So what words mark man's exploration into space?
On the moon.
One small step for man, isn't it?
Words can so often signal history-changing events.
I have a dream.
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
We mark history-changing moments by words,
but we never mark it by silence, do we?
Well, we should.
And this silence changed the world.
This silence saved the world.
Because look when all this takes place.
Look at verse 6.
Now at the feast,
this trial is happening at the feast of the Passover.
The Passover feast, it comes from the Exodus
when the Israelites sacrificed a lamb
and spread its blood on the doorpost of their house.
And this blood, this sacrifice,
it would protect them from God's wrath.
God's wrath would pass over,
pass over their house, avoid it,
and it would land on the Egyptians instead.
And so it's no small thing that this trial
is happening during the feast.
The Passover is in the air of this courtroom.
So as this trial begins,
we should already have a sense
that this courtroom is bigger
than just an earthly courtroom.
There's more going on here.
This is to do with the Passover.
So this isn't just about Roman law
and human legal code.
No, this trial is dealing with divine law
and sin and forgiveness
and God's wrath and redemption.
This is what's really going on
in the heavenly courtroom.
So this isn't just a man going on trial.
This is a lamb going on the altar.
His silence is Jesus offering something.
He's offering a sacrifice.
He's offering himself.
Jesus stands in this courtroom
as a sacrifice.
And not just any sacrifice.
He was an innocent sacrifice.
There was no wrong in him.
He's put on this trial
and he's proven innocent.
He didn't go to the cross
having actually done something wrong.
He didn't fall under true accusations.
No, Jesus is in this room
as an innocent sacrifice.
As God looks down on this trial,
this is what's going on.
He sees a perfectly innocent man,
his beloved son.
And he sees a sacrifice, a lamb.
It's a Passover lamb to deal with sin.
This is what was going on
in heaven at the cross.
Jesus was an innocent sacrifice.
But God sees something else in this trial.
There's something else present
in the heavenly courtroom.
And this is the second thing to see.
In the heavenly courtroom,
there's a sinful people.
Now this trial could have been
a bit of a stalemate.
Going nowhere,
just accusations,
but nothing going on.
But look what happened next
in verse 6.
Now at the feast,
he used to release for them
one prisoner
for whom they asked.
And among the rebels in prison
who had committed murder
in the insurrection,
there was a man called Barabbas.
A criminal, Barabbas is introduced.
He's not just any criminal.
Did you see what he is?
He's a rebel.
A murderer.
Someone who plotted
to overthrow the government
and murdered his way
to get there.
And at the Passover,
Pilate would release for them
one prisoner.
You might ask,
why did he do that?
It's kind of like a political tactic
to keep the Jewish people happy
under Roman rule.
It's kind of a little token
to keep them at bay.
And so,
Pilate asks in verse 9,
do you want me to release for you
the king of the Jews?
And implied in that question is,
what's the other option?
Or do you want me to release for you
the murderer?
Pilate presents before the people
a choice.
A clear choice between two men,
Jesus and Barabbas.
And when faced with Jesus
in this murderer,
look what the people choose
in verse 11.
The chief priest
stirred up the crowd
to have him release
for them Barabbas instead.
They choose the murderer.
This hatred for Jesus,
it escalates
and spreads
to the people.
Maybe the crowds
were a bit undecided before,
but the chief priests
stir everyone up
to hate Jesus
and choose Barabbas.
And all the people
rallied together
and look who they choose.
They loved the murderer
more than Jesus.
And not only that,
when Pilate asked,
then what shall I do
with Jesus?
The crowd don't say,
well, just throw him
out of the city.
They don't say,
put him in prison.
They don't say,
well, just flog him.
No.
They cried out again,
crucify him.
And Pilate said to them,
why, what evil has he done?
But they shouted,
all the more,
crucify him.
Just notice
how sin escalates here.
Jesus' crucifixion
was the greatest sin
committed in all history.
This is the peak
of human sin.
And all the people
just get caught up in it,
don't they?
Swept along.
And this sums up
sin's humanity
against God.
It began with
eating some fruit
and it ends up
with crucifying
the Son of God.
Sin always wants
to escalate.
And just look
at these events.
It wasn't enough
we had to ignore Jesus,
we had to put him
on trial
and question him.
And it wasn't enough
to question him,
we had to lie about him.
And it wasn't enough
we had to lie about him,
we had to protest him.
And it wasn't enough
we had to protest him,
we had to choose
a murderer over him.
And it wasn't enough
to choose the murderer,
we had to crucify
and pierce
and bury him
and seal the tomb
and guard it.
What we have here
is the super concentrated,
summed up picture
of the sinful human race.
So we mustn't think
that we're just seeing
the sin of a crowd
2,000 years ago.
No, we're seeing
all our sin.
The sin of the whole
human race
displayed before us.
This is us.
This is what we did
to God.
We all loved
the murderer
instead of the Son of God.
Jesus says
these words
in John 8.
You are of
your father the devil
and your will
is to do
your father's desires.
He was a murderer
from the beginning.
This is the sin
of the world.
We've loved
the devil.
We've loved
the ultimate murderer.
We've cheered
for the devil
and we've said
God we don't want
you as our king.
That was the sin
in the garden
and that is the sin
of the world right now.
We've loved
the devil
more than Jesus
and it was this
very sin
that sent Jesus
to the cross.
In the earthly courtroom
what sent Jesus
to the cross?
It was a love
of a murderer
Barabbas
more than Jesus
and in the heavenly courtroom
as God looked down
on the cross
what is the spiritual reality?
What sent Jesus
to the cross?
It was the love
of a murderer
Satan
more than Jesus.
God sees the human race
love Satan
more than Jesus
and the heavenly reality is
Jesus is going
to the cross
because of that sin.
But remember
he's doing it willingly
he's silent
to let this happen
he's the sacrifice
and he's offering
himself up
for this sin.
we see here
in his silence
the love of Jesus
for sinners.
He loved the sinner
so much
he offered himself
instead of the sinner.
He was the substitute
for the sinner.
And this is my final point
and the final thing
to see in the heavenly courtroom
Jesus
was our substitute.
Jesus
was our substitute.
All of our sin
can be summed up
in one character
in this earthly courtroom
Barabbas.
We are all
Barabbas
deserving death
and offense
before God
but look how
it ends
for Barabbas
verse 15
so Pilate
released for them
Barabbas
and delivered
Jesus
to be crucified.
Jesus
took the place
of Barabbas.
The innocent
sacrifice
is swapping
places
with the guilty
sinner.
Jesus
is a substitute.
Now a substitute
it just means
a swap
so in football
you have substitutes
don't you?
One player
comes off the pitch
and another one
comes on
and that's the substitute.
Well that's what's
happening with
Barabbas and Jesus.
Jesus
is taking
the place
of Barabbas
taking the punishment
destined for him
and instead
Barabbas
is released
and gets
to go free.
Jesus
is a substitute
here
and you can
think of
Barabbas
as Jesus'
church.
All the
sinners
he came
to save
his bride
it's all
pictured
in this
one man.
This was
what was going
on in the
heavenly courtroom.
As God
looked down
on this
earthly courtroom
where Barabbas
stands
he sees
his church
his people
the bride
of Christ
and what
does that
bride look
like?
It's not
a beautiful
bride.
It's not
a lovely
people.
It is
murderous
rebels
who hated
the son
of God
and just
like Barabbas
there's guilt.
There's
punishment
needing to
be paid
and it's
not the
demands of
Roman law
that hang
over us
it is the
demands of
God's
law needing
to be
paid
and it
is hanging
over all
his people.
It's the
demands of
death
eternal
death
and divine
anger.
So what is
Christ doing
on the
cross?
What is
going on
in the
heavenly
courtroom
of God's
holy
justice?
Jesus
is taking
the place
of sinners
he's
substituting
himself for
them
taking
their
divine
punishment.
This
earthly
courtroom
is showing
us the
heavenly
one
and Jesus
was our
substitute.
And we
see this
in the
judge too.
Pilate knows
Jesus was
innocent.
He knows
that there's
no evil
in him.
In the
mind of
the judge
Jesus is
innocent
but what
is Pilate's
official
judgment?
What is
Jesus declared
publicly?
Guilty.
Condemned.
God
and that's
what's
going on
in heaven
too.
God
looks upon
his son
and God
knows his
son is
perfect,
innocent,
sinless.
But on
the cross
God
declared
Jesus
guilty,
condemned
and all
the demands
of divine
law fall
on him
and the
real
sinners
go free.
We see
here Jesus
is both
sinless
and condemned
at the
same time.
Jesus
was our
substitute
and that
is how
Jesus
saves us.
This is
what the
cross is
all about.
If you're
not a
Christian
here today
and you're
wondering
what is
Christianity
all about
or if you've
ever wondered
why is the
cross so
important?
Why is the
cross on
top of
churches
and above
pulpits?
Well this
is why.
The cross
is where
Jesus
became a
substitute
for sinners.
Where he
takes the
place of
his people
and bears
all their
guilt
and their
punishment
and all
the weight
of divine
wrath on
himself.
So that
what happens
to the
sinner?
They go
free.
That is
what happened
to all
those in
Christ
here today.
All your
guilt
and sin
has been
laid on
Christ.
And just
like Barabbas
you are
now free.
There is
no condemnation
there is
no guilt
there is
no wrath
you stand
before a
holy God
free.
Released
from the
burden of
your sin
Christ has
completely
set you
free.
And if
you're not
trusting in
Christ today
please don't
ignore the
heavenly courtroom
in this
scene.
The demands
of God's
justice
those demands
still hang
over you
and your
guilt before
God needs
to be dealt
with.
And there
are only
two ways
two options
either you
can try to
deal with
your guilt
on judgment
day as you
stand before
the judgment
seat of
Christ
but that
will not
go well
or your
guilt
can be
laid on
Jesus.
The demands
of justice
can be
dealt with
on the
cross
and if
you come
to Christ
today and
bow before
the king
your guilt
will be
no more.
There will be
no judgment
for you
you need a
substitute
and Christ
is the only
one that
can set
you free.
as we
watch this
trial unfold
there's an
overwhelming
sense of
injustice
and unfairness
isn't there?
Why is the
innocent one
going through
all of this
and the
murderer
is free?
There's
definitely that
feeling in the
air isn't
there?
But do you
know what
that unfair
feeling actually
is?
That's grace.
As we
look at our
salvation we
can sometimes
ask ourselves
why me?
Why did
Christ suffer
and I go
free?
Why me?
And there's
one answer
grace.
Why did
Jesus stay
silent and
take the
place of
Barabbas?
Why did
he take
our
judgment?
It's
grace.
In this
earthly
courtroom we
see this
substitute
and we
see unfairness
but what is
the reality
in the
heavenly
courtroom?
It's
grace.
It's the
grace of
God.
Christ
loving
unworthy
sinners and
being their
substitute
reconciling us
to God's.
So as we
see this
earthly
courtroom
it looks
like justice
is being
abused here
but do you
know what's
really going
on?
Justice
is being
satisfied.
justified.
He's
ending the
guilt of
his people.
When Jesus
took his
last breath
the heavenly
judge gave
his final
verdict.
The wrath
of God
has fallen
on this
man and
now there
is no
condemnation
for those
in Christ
Jesus.
And this
is your
verdict
brothers and
sisters
and this
verdict will
never change
for you.
This verdict
stands for
all
eternity.
We confessed
the Nicene
Creed earlier
and of all
the things
you could
confess about
the fundamentals
of the
Christian faith
it's interesting
what's included.
For our
sake he was
crucified under
Pontius Pilate.
Well can you
see why that's
so important
now?
The judgment
of God
it just
wasn't hidden
up in heaven
up there
up in the
heavenly
courtroom
and we
don't really
know what
happened up
there
what's
going on
no it
played out
in this
earthly
courtroom
that Jesus
was so
condemned
by God
in heaven
that he
was condemned
by man
on earth
and it
was public
for all
to see
his innocence
to see
our sin
to see
our
substitutes
and what
did we
confess?
It was all
for our
sake
it was all
for you
brothers and
sisters
that he
did this
he stood
condemned
and now
we are
free
let me
pray
to see
a
ending
!
a
ending
a
!
a